The blue wave washing over Lake County became complete Tuesday evening as Democratic Lake County sheriff candidate John Idleburg edged out Republican incumbent Mark Curran with returns that included the final tally of provisional and late-arriving mail-in ballots.

Also following the addition of those final ballots, Democrats picked up one more seat on the Lake County Board, where Democrats had already won enough seats on Nov. 6 to earn a majority on the board for the first time ever.

The final tally in the sheriff’s race was Idleburg 50.03 percent to Curran’s 49.97 percent out of 245,633 votes tallied, a difference of 137 votes. Curran had been leading at the end of election night by just over 750 votes.

Curran’s loss means that the three countywide offices open this election cycle — sheriff, treasurer and clerk — all had incumbent Republicans unseated.

Idleburg campaign

John Idleburg.

John Idleburg. (Idleburg campaign)

According to the Lake County Clerk’s Office website, the mail-in and provisional votes added 6,166 votes, for a total of 254,217 votes, or 56.7 percent of the county’s 448,295 registered voters.

“I want to say to the voters of Lake County, thank you for your trust and faith in me. I’m honored to be your Lake County sheriff,” Idleburg said Tuesday night after the last batch was added.

“To the men and women in blue, we begin a new chapter centered on law enforcement, and I am looking forward to working with you over the coming years,” he added. “Thank you for all the hard work. I share this victory with you. I want to wish Mark Curran the best of luck in his future endeavors.”

Curran said Tuesday night from Florida that the chairman of the Lake County Republicans, Mark Shaw, has advised him to ask for a discovery recount and he will “probably” go forward with that plan.

Lake County Sheriff's Office

Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran.

Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran. (Lake County Sheriff's Office)

Lake County Clerk Carla Wyckoff said that a candidate can petition her office for a discovery recount if they are within 5 percent of their opponent. The candidate chooses 25 percent of the appropriate district for the race where they can review, re-tabulate or even hand count the ballots from the precincts selected, she said

If the review finds votes that should not have been counted, the challenger can then go to the circuit court to request a full recount.

According to Wyckoff, the County Clerk’s Office has done a few discovery recounts. After the 2017 consolidated election, she said, there were five discovery recounts, and the votes did not change in any of those races.

Curran was also introspective, saying he has a great family.

“I might have to move on to my next chapter,” he said. “But I’m grateful for having the opportunity to serve. There must be a plan, because I don’t doubt God.”

Democrats increased their lead on the County Board with Libertyville’s District 15 interim board Chairman Carol Calabresa losing in her race after ending election night ahead by 74 votes. The final tally had Calabresa at 49.93 to Democrat Jennifer Clark’s 50.07 percent out of 13,324 votes. Clark is an economics professor at both Carthage College in Kenosha, Wis., and Roosevelt University in Chicago.

In Mundelein’s 10th District, the two candidates were virtually tied on election night with just 16 votes putting Democrat Jessica Vealitzek ahead of incumbent Republican Charles "Chuck" Bartels. The final count had Vealitzek with 50.26 percent to Bartels’ 49.74 percent out of 15,496 votes.

Democrat Julie Simpson was leading Republican Karimar “Kari” Brown in the race to replace Lake County Chairman Aaron Lawlor in Vernon Hills’ District 18 and she widened her lead capturing 55.4 percent of 12,525 votes to Brown’s 44.5 percent.

In the 20th District, incumbent Republican Sidney Mathias, a former state representative and mayor of Buffalo Grove, was 158 votes behind challenger Democrat Adam Didech, a public relations consultant for progressive campaigns and nonprofits, on election night. On Tuesday, Didech had 50.8 percent of 13,448 votes to Mathias’ 49 percent.